


Into the Black City and Into the Night

by Cartadwarfwithaheartofgold (manka)



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Modern Thedas, The Calling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:14:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26187031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manka/pseuds/Cartadwarfwithaheartofgold
Summary: Chantal Amell is haunted by the Calling and Zevran's promise to follow her anywhere.
Relationships: Chantal Amell/Zevran Arainai, Female Amell/Zevran Arainai, Zevran Arainai/Female Warden
Kudos: 10





	Into the Black City and Into the Night

Chantal could not sleep. She could barely eat. The song inside her head reached a crescendo and she fought the urge to cover her ears and scream. Just _scream_ until she drowned out the music. 

Inside the song, she head the whispered promise. _Come my child. Come to me. I will take care of you. I will love you. You will be safe. You will be happy. Come to me now. Come to me…_

_“_ Mi amor?” 

Zevran’s voice snapped her from her trance and she startled, whipping around to stare at him. Two sets of dark eyes peered at her in the dim lights of the nearly abandoned parking lot. Zevran was under the blankets they’d spread out in the bed of the truck, but the sleek, smooth beast of a dog beside him stood and meandered over to Chantal, pushing his giant head into her neck. 

“It’s alright Trout.” She whispered softly, scratching his ear. “You can sleep.” 

Trout whined, leaping off the truck and ambling across the cracked pavement. That left her with Zevran’s eyes boring into her shoulders. So quietly she didn’t even hear the blankets rustling, Zevran moved to her side. She didn’t realize until he wrapped his lean, muscled arm around her waist and squeezed. “Is it bad tonight?” 

It was bad every night. And getting worse. She could hear it in her teeth, a drill at the dentist, and she could hardly think past it. She collapsed back into Zevran’s warm, bare chest. It should not affect her like this. It was only a song. 

But it wasn’t. It wasn’t and they both knew it. Zevran’s nose traced the line of her neck, intimately familiar with the best ways to make her shiver in his arms. His hands pushed up her cotton sweatshirt, skimming the skin beneath. “Would this help?” He asked. 

“Not tonight, I think.” Chantal whispered to the stars above them. “Do you remember the war? Camping in the wilderness?” 

“Without the same nostalgia you do, I assure you.” Zevran murmured against her skin, wrapping himself flush around her back. She smiled, a small brokenhearted wisp of a thing, up at the sky. 

“There were so many stars then. I’d never seen them all before. I…” 

Chantal had never seen them from her tower. Never felt grass under her bare feet. Never knew the feel of a lover’s skin against hers or the laughter that came right from your belly when you were _safe_ to laugh, when you were _free._ She felt alive then, not a corpse shambling off after this song. She felt…

“I love you and I am by your side. Now and always.” Zevran promised into her ear. “I will stay up with you all night, if you wish.” 

_I will storm the gates of the black city themselves by your side. Never doubt it._

Chantal swallowed, the song dimming as the emotion flared up. She grabbed for Zevran’s hands, folded them within hers tight. “You make me feel alive, Zev. You make me remember. I don’t know what I’d do if…” 

“You will never have to find out.” Zevran promised, twining their fingers together. 


End file.
